THE Australian share market is trading flat as it draws breath and looks for a new lead.

Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the local market was "taking a breather".

"It's a bit of a worn-out phrase, but the market has had a frenetic pace all throughout this year," he said.

Mr Heffernan said the rise in the market from 4700 points to 5100 points in a couple of months had been "fantastic".

It was driven by the fact that the Australian economy was not going backwards, and the recent company earnings season had been OK.

Mr Heffernan said the next major driver for the local market was likely to be US unemployment figures, to be released overnight.

"That will be the major catalyst for them over there (US markets), and it all depends on whether we anticipate their good result as I think it will be," he said.

Economic data from China also may influence the local market today, with trade figures expected early in the afternoon. On Wall Street in the US overnight, a fall in jobless claims in the US last week sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an all-time high for the third straight session.

On the local bourse, in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was 15 cents higher at $35.97, and Rio Tinto lifted 98 cents to $64.21.

Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank fell 11 cents to $69.57, National Australia Bank slipped two cents to $31.04, ANZ retreated 17 cents to $28.84, and Westpac dipped three cents to $31.26.

Leighton Holdings was 26 cents lower at $21.71 despite its contract and project development subsidiary snared a $120 million deal to work on a major rail extension in Sydney.

Virgin Australia hovered at 41 cents after the competition watchdog delayed its decision on the airline's proposed takeover of Tiger Airways Australia.

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